Room Salons: “Refined” Korean Brothels [part 2]

In the Korean American room salons, it is almost the same protocol as in Korea. The men usually end up going home with the girls or the girls’ phone numbers at the least. From what I’ve seen in the States, if the customer really falls hard for one of the girls, they usually want to take them on trips to Vegas in order to have sex with them. However this is impossible unless the girls’ debts are paid. Many of the girls who were trafficked across the borders into America are not free to wander as they please whereas the girls in Korea are. The room salons keep track of all debts accrued by the girls for their initial apartment deposits, car down payments, living expenses, airplane tickets, etc…when they get to America. When the customers give a cash tip to the girls which is a customary minimum of $100 for the night, the girls get to keep this cash. However, if the girls get a credit card tip, the room salon keeps it and deducts the amount from their debts. Since most of the tips are cash, the debts are decreased very slowly. All passports and ID cards are confiscated by the room salon owners as the girls are issued fake IDs to live in America. The apartments and cars are also all signed under the room salon owners’ names or associates of the room salon owners. So, if a customer wanted to take a girl out for a few days to Vegas per say, he would come to the room salon, pay off tens of thousands of dollars usually, and then be free to take her. Most girls are actually free after their debts are paid however they end up going back to the room salons because they aren’t legal to work anywhere else or get a home under their names. These women are never given back their real passports or IDs as the owners think this to be too risky for their businesses. If a girl gets “lucky” and one of the customers actually marries her, she will be able to live life in America depending on her husband to provide for her. This rarely happens, but it’s not unheard of either. Now, if this does happen, the girl might be able to negotiate with the room salon to have her passport and ID be returned back to her so that she may live a normal life.

As far as the girls who willingly work in room salons in America and Korea who are free to come and go as they please– they are still victimized and violated in numerous ways. They’re still exploited on a daily basis. However these women do not consider themselves as victims and nor do a lot of others view them as such. This is a huge problem because they are intermingling in dangerous territory unaware of the deleterious outcomes on their lives in the future. By being voluntary participants, some of them are also indirectly helping the pimps and traffickers, who have coerced other women into the industry. These women who get in voluntarily are indeed victims regardless of how society may view them even if they themselves do not believe this to be so.

Usually, there will be a real owner and a “face” owner. The face owner acts as if he or she is the owner when people come to the brothel and also manages everything internally. The actual owner will hardly be visible and will only collect the profits earned from the alcohol. The face owner at times will make extra side money pimping out the girls to specific clients who request to meet them outside for sex. There is also trading of these girls as if they are merchandise. The room salons trade different girls by paying off their debts to buy them. Once another room salon pays off a particular girl’s debt, she will be transferred to that room salon where she will continue to pay off that debt there. Obviously, if the girl makes a name for herself in the room salon world and gains popularity, she will be more sought after by other room salons.

A lot of these girls have either been lured by traffickers with promises of jobs in America, they have come from poverty, or sometimes, they are room salon workers from Korea who are looking to work elsewhere in the world. Since drugs are more easily accessible in America than in Korea, and are much cheaper, a lot of the girls become addicted to cocaine or heroine. They spend all of their earnings on fancy clothing and drugs most of the time. Two girls I met actually went to a hotel with two of their customers. The men provided cocaine for them in return for an orgy. When things like this happen, the room salon owners are fully aware of where their girls are at every moment. Their every move is tracked and monitored by associates of the room salons as well as the underground Korean taxi companies for the entire duration of employment in the room salons as long as they are in debt.

Once these girls hit a certain age of around 28-30, they begin to look much older than their peers due to the immense alcohol consumption, drug use, and cigarette smoking. So, their only choices become the life of a madam at a room salon or to go into other arenas of the underground sex industry such as massage parlors, whorehouses, or hostess bars. I once met a girl who was 35, and she looked about 40. She had worked in the room salons for quite some time, going from one of the girls to becoming a madam who brings the girls into the rooms. Then she became so addicted to drugs that she couldn’t function at the room salons any longer. She had paid off her initial debts but had continuously gotten into more and more debt to support her drug habits. Eventually, she ended up prostituting herself from her apartment to much older customers. She was stuck in LA with no job, no way to support herself, and a small apartment that was rented out for her by a man who wished to have sex with her anytime in exchange for the roof over her head.

The reason why these room salons are so difficult to shut down is because they look like karaoke rooms called “noraebangs” where people rent rooms by the hour to sing and drink together. Also, because most Korean companies including newspaper agencies, frequent these places as entertainment after work dinners, they cover these businesses up in the media. They help these brothels stay open. The madam gets phone calls warning her of possible raids by government agents. On those nights, the girls would be required to take their handbags into the rooms with the customers. Usually, there is one room set aside for the girls to wait in until they have customers, and this is where they would leave their personal belongings. However on the nights with possible raids, the girls prepare themselves to appear as if they are actual customers who came into the establishment with the men to sing, just as in a typical karaoke room.

Meta

International Organizations

8th Day Center for Justice, a Roman Catholic non-profit organization based in Chicago, Illinois
A Better World, an organization that is based in Lacombe, Alberta, Canada
A21 Campaign, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, non-governmental organization that works to fight human trafficking
ACT Alberta, a Canadian coalition of Government of Alberta representatives, non-governmental organizations, community organizations, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Agape International Missions, a nonprofit organization in Cambodia
Arizona League to End Regional Trafficking, a coalition representing partnerships with law enforcement, faith-based communities, non-profit organizations, social service agencies, attorneys and concerned citizens
Breaking Out Corporation, a 501 (c) (3), a pro-active, not-for-profit organization whose mission is dedicated to identify, investigate and rescue Victims of Human Trafficking.
California Against Slavery, a human rights organization directed at strengthening California state laws to protect victims of sex trafficking
Called to Rescue, a non-profit worldwide organization based in Vancouver, Washington given to rescuing minor children from sex trafficking, violence and abuse.
Centre to End All Sexual Exploitation, a nonprofit organization that helps human trafficking victims, sex workers, and the homeless by providing them with resources
Chab Dai, a coalition founded by Helen Sworn that connects Christian organizations committed to ending sexual abuse and trafficking.
Childhope Asia Philippines, an international, non-profit, non-political, non-sectarian organization whose principal purpose is to advocate for the cause of street children throughout the world
Children's Organization of South East Asia, the Children's Organization of Southeast Asia, COSA is an International Organization which works towards the prevention of child human trafficking and sexual exploitation within the Northern regions of Thailand.
Coalition Against Trafficking in Women, an international non-governmental organization opposing human trafficking, prostitution, and other forms of commercial sex
Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking, a Los Angeles-based anti-human trafficking organization
Deborah's Gate, a human trafficking victims safe house run by The Salvation Army in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada that opened in 2009
ECPAT, an international non-governmental organization and network headquartered in Thailand which is designed to end the commercial sexual exploitation of children
The Emancipation Network, an international organization dedicated to fighting human trafficking and modern-day slavery
EVE, an advocacy group based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Face to Face Bulgaria, an organization whose primary mission is to prevent cases of forced prostitution and human trafficking in Bulgaria
Florida Abolitionist, a nonprofit, non-governmental organization opposing human trafficking in Florida, United States
GABRIELA, a leftist Filipino organization that advocates for women's issues
Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women, a network of more than 100 non-governmental organizations from all regions of the world, who share a deep concern for the women, children and men whose human rights have been violated by the criminal practice of trafficking in persons
Global Impact Phils Foundation, a Philippines-based organization that works to prevent human-trafficking
Happy Horizons Children's Ranch is a humanitarian ministry of the Assemblies of God, Philippines. It is a non-profit organization dedicated to the rehabilitation and defense of street children in the Philippines
Ing Makababaying Aksyon, a feminist service institution that seeks to empower women and work for a society that genuinely recognizes and upholds women's rights
International Justice Mission, a U.S.-based non-profit human rights organization that operates in countries all over the world to rescue victims of individual human rights abuse
ITEMP - Institute for Trafficked, Exploited & Missing Persons, an international organization dedicated to ending contemporary slavery and human trafficking through public awareness, research and direct intervention.
La Strada International Association, an international NGO network addressing trafficking in human beings in Europe
London Anti-Human Trafficking Committee, a London, Ontario, Canada-based nonprofit organization opposing human trafficking by means of advocacy and education
Love 146- Vision- The abolition of child trafficking and slavery, nothing less.
Maiti Nepal, a non-profit organization in Nepal dedicated to helping victims of sex trafficking
MANNA Freedom, the human trafficking intervention arm of MANNA Worldwide working to prevent human trafficking in Eastern Europe through the building of Bridge To Life Homes.
Men Against Sexual Trafficking, a London, Ontario, Canada-based organization that opposes human trafficking by educating men on the issue and encouraging them to stop buying sexual services provided by human trafficking victims
Mongolian Gender Equality Center, a non-governmental organization based in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
NASHI, a Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada-based organisation that opposes human trafficking by raising awareness through education
Not for Sale Campaign, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based out of California
Office to Combat Trafficking in Persons, a government agency responsible for coordinating efforts to address human trafficking in British Columbia, Canada
Polaris Project, a nonprofit, non-governmental organization that works to combat and prevent modern day slavery and human trafficking
PREDA Foundation, a charitable organization that was founded in Olongapo City, Philippines in 1974
Rapha House, a public benefit 501(c)(3) nonprofit committed to ending human trafficking, bonded labor and the sexual exploitation of children.
Ratanak International, an organization that rescues children from sexual slavery and then provides them with education, rehabilitation, and safety
Redlight Children Campaign, a non-profit organization created by New York lawyer and president of Priority Films Guy Jacobson and Israeli actress Adi Ezroni in 2002 to combat worldwide child sexual exploitation and human trafficking
Redlight Traffic, a 501(c)(3) non-profit that uses technology to unite organizations, communities, and individuals and say "NO" to human trafficking
Ricky Martin Foundation, an organization with the mission to advocate for the well-being of children around the world
Ride for Refuge, a cycling event that raises awareness and funds for displaced persons, including human trafficking victims
Salvando Corazones is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that runs safe houses and is dedicated to the fight against human trafficking in Costa Rica.
Shared Hope International, a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization which exists to rescue and restore women and children in crisis
Slavery Footprint, a nonprofit organization based in Oakland, California that works to end human trafficking and modern-day slavery.
Slavery Report, a nonprofit organization based in Northern Virginia that works to maximize human trafficking reporting.
Somaly Mam Foundation, a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization focused on combating the global sex slave trade through supporting the rescue, rehabilitation, and reintegration of the victims and through raising global awareness on the issue
Stop Child Trafficking Now, an organization founded by Lynette Lewis, an author and public speaker
Stop the Traffik, a campaign coalition which aims to bring an end to human trafficking worldwide
The Defender Foundation, a 501(c)3 Non-Governmental Agency formed to fight human trafficking through active activism of volunteers and tactical rescue teams (Shield Teams) who physically rescue victims both in the U.S. and worldwide
The Protection Project, a 501(c)3 Non-Governmental organization based at the Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies in Washington DC which advises governments on drafting and implementing anti-trafficking legislation and promotes the inclusion of trafficking in the curriculum of universities around the world
Third World Movement Against the Exploitation of Women, an organization directed towards the liberation of women from all kinds of oppression and exploitation based on sex, race or class
Tiny Hands International, a Christian nonprofit organization dedicated to helping orphaned and abandoned children and fighting sex trafficking in South Asia
Visayan Forum Foundation, a non-profit, non-stock and tax-exempt non-government organization in the Philippines established in 1991
Vital Voices, an international, non-profit, non-governmental organization that works with women leaders in the areas of economic empowerment, women's political participation, and human rights
Walk With Me Canada Victim Services, Canada based, providing victim services for survivors of human trafficking
Word Made Flesh, serving victims of human trafficking in El Alto, Bolivia